Regus looks to expand business further in 2015
Office and work space provider Regus pledged an investment of £120m to expand the size of its business in 2015 after reporting a 7% increase in annual pre-tax profits last year.
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In 2014, the company reported a pre-tax profit of £87.1m, up from £81.5m in the year before with revenues of £1.68bn compared to £1.53bn. That’s led Regus to declare a final dividend of 2.75p per share, making a total for the year of 4p per share, up 11% from 3.6p per share paid a year ago.
The dividend payout comes despite corporate profits being weighed down by the strength of the British pound. Last year, the group expanded its presence to a further 166 towns and cities, taking its total coverage to 850 towns and cities in 104 countries, giving it a grand total of 2,269 locations.
In 2015, the group will invest £120m to add a further 400 locations to its estate. The company’s chief executive, Mark Dixon said current trading is in line with management's expectations and group remains confident in its business model and prospects for 2015.
“We expect to reduce costs further as a percentage of sales as we leverage our increased scale and drive new operational efficiencies. This will further enhance our earnings. As the world of work continues to develop, and more organisations look to outsource their workplace needs, so the future remains positive for Regus,” said Dixon.
Investec Securities said that Regus has delivered a robust underlying performance, with hundreds of new locations added and the network. “Whilst a more stable run-rate of capital investment going forward will clearly impact our estimates, with momentum strong and aggregate post-tax cash return on investment running at an attractive 20.9%, Regus looks well positioned for 2015,” added Investec.